KCCF commissions Tsong artwork

Kona Coffee Cultural Festival leadership wanted to do something special and out of the box to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Hawaii’s oldest food festival this year.

As a result, critically acclaimed artist and Kona resident Jing Jing Tsong was commissioned to create the official art piece for the 2015 Kona Coffee Cultural Festival.

Tsong is well known for her illustration work that combines traditional printmaking with digital techniques to create vibrant compositions of color, pattern and texture.

The new textile-based coffee art piece will be featured on all official Kona Coffee Cultural Festival merchandise including the Festival button, event poster, magazine and retail merchandise.

The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival is honored to have Hawaii Island artists showcase their beautiful art pieces every year.

Tsong’s source of inspiration for her coffee art is the silhouette of Mount Hualalai.

“I think many of us who spend a lot of time in the ocean are very familiar with this view of Hualalai. It made sense to me to feature Hualalai since much of Kona coffee is grown on the western slope. Kona coffee is very special for many reasons, but I focused on the terroir because it is so unique,” said Tsong.

The image was hand drawn then traditional print making techniques including stenciling and block printing were incorporated. Tsong then collaged and applied color digitally. Each image has multiple layers of texture and color to create the richness found in this unique and creative Kona Coffee Cultural Festival art piece.

“Every year we are thankful for the art community’s contribution to the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival. Jing Jing Tsong is distinguished in her field and we are so honored to have her join our long list of contributing artists,” Kona Coffee Cultural Festival President Mel Morimoto said.

Tsong’s images have been featured in national and international design magazines including Graphis and Communication Arts.

Her illustrations appear in the New York Times best-selling children’s picture book, “A Bucket of Blessings” by Kabir Seghal and Surishtha Seghal.

Her artwork is featured in two Forever stamps from the U.S. Postal Service as part of the “2014 Winter Fun” series.

Tsong is also the 2015 National Cherry Blossom Festival artist as well.

A mom, musician and surfer, she was born in Pennsylvania and currently lives in Kona, with her husband.

The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival returns for its 45th annual celebration of Kona’s world famous coffee from Nov. 6-15, 2015. Hawaii’s oldest food festival combines a modern-day infatuation with coffee with Kona’s old-world history as visitors, residents, artisans and farmers gather together to salute Hawaii’s preeminent coffee.